Brian Murphy backs Cork's young guns to handle Dublin at Croke Park

Cork defender Brian Murphy believes his team-mates have enough experience to cope with Dublin despite the relatively young age of their squad.

Murphy, who has been out since injuring his shoulder on club duty for Bride Rovers against Ballinhassig in the Cork SHC, is one of the more experienced members of the Cork panel having been part of the 2004 All-Ireland winning side.

However, he believes the squad won’t be found wanting when they meet Dublin on Sunday in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final at Croke Park.

He told the Irish Examiner: “It has been well-documented that this is a young team, but a few of them have been around for a while now, they know what championship hurling is about.

“We got a fair bit of criticism after the league and fellas knuckled down, there are great hurlers in the camp.

“The use of possession in hurling is huge at this stage but they’ve been brought up with this and know how to work the ball.”

Murphy, who has little hope of making Saturday’s clash, continued: “Looking at the two semi-finals, I don’t think that there’s anybody out there who would put a lot of money on any team to win the All-Ireland.

“It’s that open, it’s a case of wait and see how the semi-finals go. Every team now has a bit of confidence and they’d hope to at least get to final, and if they get there win it out.

"It’s great for the championship that it’s so open, for the players and the supporters that there’s a bit of novelty rather than the same ding-dong every year.”